Leadership and Governance for Health

Thursday 16 February 2012

Call for Proposals for the second round of Health Policy Action Fund grants

We would like to draw your attention to the recent Call for Proposals for the second round of Health Policy Action Fund grants.  As you may know, IHP+ has funded a small grants scheme since 2010, which has been managed by Oxfam under the name Health Policy Action Fund (HPAF). The HPAF aims to support southern civil society organizations, especially health CSO networks and coalitions, to become more effectively engaged in national health policy processes. The grants are intended to enocourage greater CSO engagement in health planning, monitoring, review and accountability processes with key national health stakeholders.  In Round One, 13 grantees from 9 IHP+ countries received funding over a 12-month period.  In Round 2, the funding period will cover 18 months, from April 2012 - October 2013.
The Call for Proposals is open until 28 February.  Further details, including proposal forms and criteria for selection, can be found on the HPAF website:   www.healthpolicyactionfund.org
We encourage you to circulate this information widely to all potential candidates in your country.  
Kind regards, 
IHP+ Core Team 
(See attached file: HPAF Call for Proposals Advert.FR.final.pdf)(See attached file: HAPF Call_ for_ Proposal_Advert_ENinal.pdf)

Thursday 26 January 2012

EVAL-HEALTH MEETING IN LEEDS

As a member of an international consortium (EVAL-HEALTH), HPRG is participating in an international workshop on developing and testing of new methodologies to monitor and evaluate health-related EU-funded interventions in cooperation partner countries. This is under the specific international cooperation action (SICA) collaborative project (small or medium-scale focused research project). This 4-day meeting is taking place in Leeds and is hosted by the Institute of Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (NCIHD), University of Leeds.  
http://www.eval-health.eu/

Sunday 22 January 2012

Commending Enugu State for Starting Health Insurance for Civil Servants

There are many voices today in Nigeria... a consequence of the subsidy removal. Some criticize, some blame, some protest, some destroy... and some others stay out of the streets.
However, some people quietly make impact in ways that promote well being even in the midst of huge national and household challenges.

Enugu state has responded by starting with two very great programmes which are cost saving, long term interventions that potentially have positive and wide impacts on the society.
- Free transportation for primary school children in the State owned red buses which were largely bought from a Local Manufacturer based in Enugu (Innoson Motors)
- Commencement of Health insurance for the state civil servants... we understand that funds for the first quarter of the year have been released.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/subsidy-removal-enugu-govt-introduces-free-transport-for-students/

These two programmes can impact positively on employment, provide support for local industry, save money for households, and also lead to overall improvement in health status of the state's citizens.

While it is understood that majority in the state are not civil servants, we think that the step taken so far is a step in the right direction (one hurdle crossed) that deserves emulation by other states. We also know that the Enugu state government has been working with other organizations to promote health insurance for the informal sector and rural dwellers while it retains its free maternal and child health programme in the interim.

One thing the government should not forget is that it needs to develop clear operational guidelines to guide there relationship with all the actors in the health insurance effort, including explicit monitoring and arbitration systems. Kudos Governor Chime and Team.